Ball Lenses, also known as Fiber Coupling Spheres, Fiber Coupling Ball Lenses, or Spherical Ball Micro Lenses, are generally used for fiber/laser coupling or collimation. Standard size lenses range from 0.15mm to 10mm. Custom-made sizes as large as 40mm diameter and special materials are also available. All Ball Lenses can be ordered with full-surface anti-reflection (AR) coating.

Materials Available

Spinel

Fused Silica

BK-7

STiM-28

Ruby

Sapphire

TaF-3

LaSFN9

S-LAH79

Cubic Zirconia

Nd

1.727

1.458

1.5167

1.6889

1.76

1.768

1.8042

1.85026

2.00373

2.177

Dia. (mm)

Grade

0.15

C

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

X

X

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

0.25

C

n/a

X

n/a

n/a

X

X

n/a

n/a

n/a

X

0.3

C

n/a

X

n/a

n/a

X

X

n/a

n/a

n/a

X

0.4

C

n/a

X

n/a

n/a

X

X

n/a

n/a

n/a

X

0.5

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

0.6

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

0.8

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

1.5

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

2

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

3

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

4

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

5

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

6

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

7

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

8

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

9

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

10

C

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Nd=Refractive Index

Custom grades and custom sizes available upon request.

Ball lense grades are defined as follows:

Grade

Ball Diameter Variation

Deviation from Spherical Form (Sphericity)

+/- micro-inch

+/- micron

micro-inch

micron

A

30

0.762

<19.685

<0.5

B

50

1.27

<19.685

<0.5

C

100

2.54

<19.685

<0.5

D

200

5.08

25

0.635

E

500

12.7

50

1.27

F

1000

25.4

100

2.54

Definitions:

Ball Diameter Variation:
The difference between the largest and the smallest actual single diameter of one ball. The diameter of each ball is measured by using two parallel planes that are tangent to the ball:

Deviation from Spherical Form (Sphericity):
The greatest radial distance in any radial plane between a sphere circumscribed around the ball surface and any point of the ball surface:

In other words, a sphere with radius 'Re' is defined such that it can fully enclose the ball. The distance from the center of the sphere to the lowest point of the ball is defined as 'Rx.' Then the Deviation from Spherical Form is equal to Re - Rx.